Strangers and Brothers

Porson's closing speech lasted until after twelve on the
Monday morning, and the judge's summing up was not
quite finished when the court rose for lunch. The fog still
lay over the town, and every light in the room was on all
through the morning.

Porson's tone was angry and aggrieved. He tried to develop
the Farm business more elaborately now. "He ought to know
it's too late": Getliffe scribbled this note on a piece of paper
and passed it to me. The feature that stood out of his speech
was, however, his violent attack on Martineau.

"His character has been described to you as, I think I
remember, a saint. So far as I can see, Mr. Martineau's main
claim to the title is that he threw up his profession and took
an extended holiday -- which he has no doubt enjoyed -- at
someone else's expense. Mr. Martineau told you he wasn't
above deceiving someone who regarded him as a friend. In
a way that might damage the friend seriously, just for the
sake of flattering Mr. Martineau's own powers as a religious
leader. Either that story it true -- which I don't for a moment
believe, which you in the weight of all the other evidence
can't believe either -- or else he's perjuring himself in this
court. I am not certain which is regarded by my learned
friend as the more complete proof of saintliness. From everything Mr. Martineau said, from the story of his life both in
this town and since he found an easier way of living, it's
incredible that anyone should put any faith in his declaration before this court."

From his bitterness, one or two spectators guessed that the
case was important to him. Towards the end of his speech,
which was ill-proportioned, he made an attempt to reply to Getliffe's excursion over "a child of his time." He returned to

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.